When we study ancient civilizations, we often do not know why we have to understand many of the ingrained habits and traditions among peoples who lived so long ago. However, there are a number of things that can indicate to us that our era so “modern” and “technological” owes a lot to the ideas that emerged several centuries ago. If we look closely, Antiquity is present even at breakfast, as bread is an invention of the Egyptians.
In the military field, the ancients were able to offer us great contributions when it came to dominating enemies. The Babylonians, for example, were the first to take advantage of their conquests to form a profitable workforce by adopting slavery. On the other hand, the Greeks wanted to improve their plans when they clashed with enemies by creating the so-called phalanx: a group of well-equipped soldiers that attack in a synchronized way.
When building, counting and transporting, we must remember the contributions obtained in the exact sciences and engineering. Before the end of the 19th century, the pyramid of Giza occupied for four thousand years the tallest building post in the world. The Sumerians, concerned with the expense of their works, developed the first calculator in the Ancient World. The Phoenicians, before such globalization, created agile vessels that allowed them to trade with various foreign peoples.
Nowadays, many point to the benefits established by the democratic regime in our country. However, even influenced by the ideals of liberalism, several of our political and institutional actions were, to some extent, experienced by the Greeks. In Athens, legislators Cleisthenes and Pericles laid the foundations for a new form of government that inspired our modern democracy. In addition, they were the first peoples to create competitions for the occupation of public office.
Currently, the wide availability of aesthetic, surgical and therapeutic resources to take care of the body leads us to believe that we belong to the era of “cult of the body”. However, we cannot think that the ancients did not have their concerns and vanities. In the field of arts, the Greco-Romans developed techniques of bodily reproduction that, after two thousand years, impressed the Renaissance. In medicine, the Egyptians ventured into performing various surgeries, including brain surgeries.
These are just one of the few comparisons that show us the wealth of capabilities and inventions that marked antiquity and influence the world today. If possible, there would still be other discussions and analyzes that would show us that the peoples of the past provided knowledge that, in no way, can be considered inferior in relation to the knowledge produced in the contemporaneity.
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/as-influencias-antiguidade.htm